


Lines and Circles

by Nervouslaughter508



Category: Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, I'm Sorry, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Unrequited Love, like a shitload of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-08-19 08:36:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16531130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nervouslaughter508/pseuds/Nervouslaughter508
Summary: She knows she won’t fit in.The two together are a straight line and everyone knows lines can’t be broken. They go on forever, together.Leaving her always looking in, with nothing, no one but the flowers that haunt her lungs. It's a loop. And loops have no one but themselves.





	1. Lines

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching season one of Young Justice(I was preparing for season three) and I had this idea forming. I know, the fandoms dead, but the idea was hard to shake off. I love Artemis, don't get me wrong. I'm not responsible for what my mind conjures up.

She knows she won’t fit in. 

 

The two together are a straight line and everyone knows lines can’t be broken. They go on forever, together. A while ago, such a concept would be laughed at, scoffed, she would roll her eyes. She grew up always knowing she only needed herself, and people would always let you fall. Every action had proved it. Her mom in jail, her dad's neglect, her sister's abandonment. 

 

Until, until, until. 

 

Until Dick sneaked his way into her heart, with his glances and trust and laughs and words, and Wally barrelled in, with his smile and looks and his playfulness, and his endearing self. 

 

The two troublemakers made the formerly closed heart open, eventually letting the team into her heart, but to her, those two were the ones she treasured. Without them, nothing. With them, nothing but the petals that haunt her. 

 

It hurt when you knew you were stuck like this. She was a circle, the same loop, no breaking the circle no matter what. Because you can't make people love you, no matter what. 


	2. The Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I think my main goal is to try to highlight the important episodes and tell them from her point of view.

The little sneak comes in first.

 

When she first met Robin, she didn’t have much of an opinion of him. He was just another boy. He was cute, sure, based on what she saw with the mask, but she always found herself overlooking him, easily surpassed by Connors physique, Kaldurs serene maturity, or M’gann’s clumsy grace.

 

Until, until, until.

 

The night started with Robin teasing her on being in Gotham, the two transporting to the cave, only to find it in flames. They retreat, finding themselves hiding in the vents, hiding anywhere. Artemis has nearly lost hope.  They are the two powerless ones, and they have no idea concerning the powerful force they’re up against. There's no mission report, no training, no Justice League to retreat behind. Its just them. 

But its that look. The look he gives her, as if he trusts her, as if he believes in her. Artemis has never received that look before and a warm feeling fills her, despite the circumstances.

 

_C’mon Artemis, it doesn’t mean anything._

 

But what if it does? A small part of her wonders.

 

 _It's just a look._ But it's all the small things, right?

 

 _What would Jade say?_  Every girl for herself. 

 

 _Exactly._  

 

And, then, she’s alone. She’s weak, she’s powerless, weaponless. But the thought of Robins face comes in, weak, unconscious, and she pushed herself up. The thought of Jade leaving,  _every girl for herself_ crosses her mind but she's not hesitant. She knows Jade and her father let her down, but this family never lets her down. She needs Kaldur, she needs Connor, she needs Megan, hell, she even knows Wallys all talk. But she needs Robin the most, cause he's the only one who believed in her, the only one who looked at her that way. 

 

She ‘surrenders’ and saves the day, and the first person she checks on is Robin, just like how the first person Connor checks on is Megan. She lightly touches his chest, and as if on auto pilot, he comes alive, coughing, and she goes limp with relief. He smiles at her and she sighs. Swoons. Call it what you will. She’s simply happy. The group is alright. M'gann is waking up. Everything is going well.

 

Thank goodness. She doesn't want to go through that ever again. 

 

Assumption is the mother of failure although, which is proved when Red Tornado attacks. The last thing she remembers seeing is Robin falling, so fragile and small, like a small bird from his nest and she tries to reach him, his name on her tongue, and her hand gripping her throat, and she blacks out.

 

\---

Her minor crush continues, evolving into something she can’t control. Her response? Try to keep her distance. She doesn’t need this right now. And it has to go away, right? She quietly pins from the background, when they're apart she aches, and she hates herself for aching. Sometimes when they're together she aches, because she's weak.

 

And quite frankly, she thinks she might be alright with that.


	3. Assumptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is hard to read

Then the whirlwind came in.

He was endearingly annoying. Yes, handsome, yes, smart, yes, funny, but yes, annoying. The two were at each other's throats. Bickering, fighting, it seemed as if the redhead had it out for her. They had their moments where they trusted each other, had each others backs, and it was better than fighting, but Artemis still found him to be a pest.

But then, it seemed that the roles had evolved. Roy joined the team. The first case with him, her and Wally were in the Bio-Ship. She hadn’t been feeling too confident that day, but everything got better when Wally turned to her and told her she **belonged**. That was the only thing she had ever wanted to hear, and she feels the warm rush she felt with Robin, except this time, it's more raw. More unchained. With Robin, she wanted to deny her growing feelings. She would have suspected it might have been that way with Wally, but this time, she allows herself to feel all of it.

When he goes to defend her, even though Cheshire gets away, she can’t help smiling at the adorable way he ducks his head. And how he was so confident in her. And how he snatched the GPS from Roy, just for her. _We go way back_ She remembers him telling her about in the ship. Maybe she’s taking everything too seriously. Or maybe not serious enough.

She hates feelings. But she likes these ones moderately.

But then, he finds out what she had done to save herself, and he recoils, berating her. She responds with her usual facde, but inside she's hurting and reaching out for the warmth that she had experienced. Since when does she feel this way for Wally? Of all people?

Perhaps she craves the thing that Connor and Megan have. They have actually had good luck in relationships, unlike the rest of the team. They balance each other out evenly, something she envies. They seem so at ease with each other. The rest of the team hasn’t had the best of luck with relationships. She knows how Kaldur pushes back his hurt and bitterness over Tula for the good of the team. He's so selfless, so altruistic. She wishes kaldur would find someone to care for him like he cares for the team. She knows how Roy looks at Kaldur when he thinks no one is looking. How disgusted he was when Chesshire kissed him, he looked at Kadur pleadingly, almost saying  _I don't love her._ Who would have thought, her and Roy having something in common? And unrequited love, nonetheless.

But knowing Roys pain doesn’t stop her from hating him for what he ruined.

_You're not who you say you are._   
_This isn't over._   
_Not by a long shot._


	4. Suffocation

Artemis learns the hard way. Its at the circus misson, which stings a lot more because Robin was the only reason she decided to come with them. She didn’t mean to, but she saw Robin walking, and he just looks so sad, so alone. He’s been sketchy the entire mission, acting weirdly defensive about the circus and Haly. She couldn’t help herself. She leaves the compartment and stealthily follows him from behind the train, listening to his footsteps, soft and barley crunching the snow.

She startles when she hears his light voice, but relaxes when she hears the beep on the communicator.

_Uh yeah?_

_Sorry about that Walls._

Her breath catches, and she leans forward a bit, hoping to hear the redheads voice.  
_Confidential mission. From Batman._

_A friend, Jack Haly._

_Yeah. He's implicated in this global crime spree._

_Someone in the show's dirty, but I need to prove old Jack's clean or he might lose the circus!_

_I left you behind because you know my back story. Because you know me best._

_I didn't want my boyfriend questioning my objectivity._

She gasps and covers her mouth, but the sound is already made.

 _Walls? I got to go. Talk later. Love you._ She hears the beep and she quickly yanks the back door open and runs, far, her tears streaming behind her. She knows its dramatic, knows how Jade would never react this way...but quite frankly, she doesn’t care.  
\---  
_Love you_

_Love you_

_Love you._

The words are like a constant drumming in her head. She curls up, hugging her knees. M'ganns deep breath are making a pattern, like the words being repeated in her head.

_Boyfriend_

_Boyfriend_

_Boyfriend._

She wishes she could tell M’gann all this, have her wipe out her mind, but she doesn’t think she would ever be able to forget. Feeling her chest contract, she coughs into her shirt, but her mouth fills up instead, catching her by surprise and choking her.

She sits up in her bed and runs to the bathroom, locking the door. She spits into the toilet, heart pounding. Typical. Of course now she has to get the sickness the whole train is getting. She closes her eyes and is about to flush the toilet when the metallic smell catches her by surprise. She opens and gasps. Green and orange flowers tinted the bowl. Blood was slowly dripping down the seat into the bowl. She closed her eyes, hoping she was hallucinating. When she opened them, the flowers were still there. She pressed her palm into her mouth to stop her from screaming.

 

_What is this?_

_How could this happen to me?_


	5. Affects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> more Roy/kaldur in this chapter cause those two are adorable! I love that ship so much.

She can’t believe she’s back here. Back in this wretched chair, talking about her wretched feelings. But she is, and at least the only one watching is Black Canary. “I have noticed you haven’t been fighting to the best of your ability.”

She crosses her arms. “Yeah? Who told you that? Red Arrow?”

Black Canary rolls her eyes. “Red Arrow has other things to deal with.”

“Like what?”

“Let’s focus on you Artemis. I’ve also noticed you have isolated yourself from your other teammates.”

“I haven’t-”

“Let me rephrase that. Your male teammates.”

“Thats not true. “ Artemis says, untruthfully.

“Artemis, don’t close yourself in. I’m here to help. And if it’s affecting you this much, then it might be good to at least talk about it. You never train with anyone other then Zatanna, Megan or Kaldur, you leave right after missions, and you never team up with anyone. I think somethings wrong. And judging by the way you’re avoiding the question, you think somethings wrong too.”

Artemis thought it over. Okay, fine, she may have only been socializing with those three only but she didn’t have anything against Connor. Perhaps she was exhausted of Red Arrow calling her the mole all the time. And perhaps she couldn’t look at Robin anymore, without coughing the soft petals. Maybe she didn’t want to look at Wally, the face she found handsome usually pointed in Robins direction.

And Black Canary is looking at her, concerned and she decides to tell her. She can’t tell anyone else anyway, and if this thing destroys her, she wants Black Canary to know.

“Robin and-” and she’s cut off, by the seizing in her chest. She hacks, the petals and soft blood falling into her cupped palm.

Canary stands up suddenly, her chair moved back from the impact.

“Artemis!” Artemis sighs and stuffs the petals into her jean pockets, and wiping the blood on her legs. The same terrible smell comes wafting into the room and Artemis hangs her head a but before looking up.

“I have something to tell you.” She said, subtly nodding towards Canaries discarded chair. She slowly sits, watching Artemis carefully. She doesn’t look scared or surprised anymore, just slightly shaken. But heroes have to learn to maintain their feelings, as she has had to hide her feelings for a long time. Canary could be scared, or shaken, or surprised, and Artemis couldn’t tell the difference.

Artemis takes a breath. “It was a simple crush at first. On Robin.” She feels the petals fighting her throat, and she coughs softly. “I thought it would pass. It happened when the Reds attacked. He made me feel strong I guess. Then, Wally. He believed in me and stood up for me. I didn’t think my feelings would get so strong. I didn’t want to eat, drink or anything. Everything reminded me of them. And I know I’m not imagining it. It hurts. And now theres-”

“But… Wally and Robin are together.”Canary gently says.

“I know. That's when it started. When I would think about them. Then when I was around them. But now just saying their names makes my lungs close up and the flowers appear. Without or with them- I’m affected.”

“Have you told anyone else?”

“No. I don’t want to creep them out. I know everyone has more important stuff.”

“Artemis, that's nonsense. You’re their family. I would suggest at least telling Kaldur. He is the leader of your team, and he might be able to help. Altean physiology is different. Meanwhile, I’ll discuss this with Dr. Fate, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern. They might be able to help you Artemis, and your mentor deserves to know.

“No.”

“No?”

“I trust you with this. There's no cure. And it will go away. I’ll tell Kaldur, but thats all.” Artemis states firmly.

Canary looks at the pained girl in front of her, trying to look defiant and strong, which is hard when your jaw is trembling and your eyes are downcast, and the hurt-blood is decorating her jeans. “At least Green Arrow.”

“Fine.”

Artemis walks out of the room slowly, when she hears voices from the kitchen. Noting Red Arrows tough baritone she is about to walk away but she hears Kaldur and heads towards the kitchen. Canary told her to talk to him. And out of all the members on the team, she knows Kaldur is the most sensible and mature, and trustworthy. However, the two voices are rising at an alarming rate and Artemis pauses for a while outside the door.

“...because I care about your safety goddammit, and knew you would be too stubborn to budge-”

“My safety Roy? Mine? What about your own?”

“Look once this mole thing is figured out I’ll be fine but I can’t sleep until I’m sure.”

“I appreciate your concern, but my health is fine. I worry however for yours and the teams. Your pressure is their pressure. Please, Roy. For me. Go home. Rest. Eat something. Don’t work yourself out over a case that's not yours.”

“I’m doing this for you. Because I...I...”

Theres a silence and Artemis stuffs a fist in her mouth. So Red Arrow was truly staring at Kaldur. With love, nonetheless.

She slowly walks away. She can talk to Kaldur another time. Right now, he’s obviously busy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad my chapters are so short! Leave kudos and a comment, tell me what you think! :D


	6. Empathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry for the long wait, but yes I'm still here.

Artemis catches Kaldur after he comes out of the bio- ship, after a minor recon mission. “Hey Kaldur... can we talk?”

 

“Of course Artemis. Are you alright?” Kaldur asks, his handsome facial features expressing concern. They don’t see Roy looking at them suspiciously. 

 

“I’m not sure.” Artemis answers.

 

The two are sitting in Kaldurs room. He motions for her to sit down on his bed and he sits on a beanbag Robin put in his room to welcome him. The mere thought makes Artemis want to cough. 

 

“What is it you need Artemis?” Kaldur asks, in the formal tongue he always uses. 

 

Artemis is nervous. She’s nervous cause as much as she trusts Kaldur, she doesn’t want to  worry him. Kaldur carries so much on his shoulders, she doesn’t want him to think her problems as his own, and if he did consider them his own, she wouldn’t know because Kaldur never complains. Never whines at the shitty hand he was dealt. 

 

“Kal, I’m going to tell you this, but its my problem. Not yours. I don’t want you to worry about it.”

 

Kaldur smiles a bit and lowers his head, shaking it a bit. “You sound like Roy. Artemis, as your team leader, and friend, its my duty to worry about you.” 

 

Artemis actually agrees with Roy for once and is glad Kaldur is made aware of his selflessness. “But this is my issue. Not yours. I’m telling you cause I trust you.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“As you probably know, I have an issue. Its...Wally and Robin.” 

 

Kaldur is quiet for a moment. “Artemis are you…”

 

“No! No! Gods that was wrong. I don’t mind that they’re boys and together. Its just…”  _ Spit it out.  _ I can’t.  _ Spit it out.  _ What if he tells someone?  _ Spit it out.  _ Kaldur is looking at her curiously.  _ Spit it out.  _ It hurts.  _ Spit it out, spit it out, spit it out- _

 

Artemis hacks out a small flower. 

 

Kaldurs reaction is nothing like she expected. 

 

He sighs sadly, reaches over and picks up the flower. “So you have it?” Seeing her expression, he shrugs. “So did I.” 

 

Artemis is fucking blown away. You too? Kaldur has had this too? She feels inappropriately happy, relief floods her, she's not the only one, maybe Kaldur can help her- and then she sees his face, and internally deflates. He’s sad. Defeated, but what scares her the most is that he looks scared- for her. 

 

“Artemis… who do you love?”

 

“What? Why do you assume…” 

 

“Because, do you know what this is?”

 

She doesn’t. 

 

“You, like me, are blessed with the Hanahaki curse. Fated to fall in love with someone who will never love you back.” Kaldurs words are weary, and sound very, very honest. Like he’s gone through this before. 

 

“What Kal, who didn’t love you? You’re kind of a catch. And I know Red Arrow-”

 

Kaldur wills himself to chuckle. “No, not him. Tula.”

 

Artemis vaguely remembers the name, her and Kaldur trained together in Althanis, and when Kaldur speaks of her, its in a fond tongue. She stands up and goes to the picture Kaldur has of her and another boy. The three look very happy and innocent, and Tula is in the middle, and both boys are looking at her, the other boy beaming, and Kaldur half smiling, like a sap. 

 

“You look fine Kal, where are your flowers? Do you still have it?” 

 

Kaldur takes the photo from her, folds it and puts it on his dresser with quick movements. “There is a cure Artemis, but I feel like you are not going to have an easy time with either. You find someone else to love, who loves you, or you have surgery. And both are not known for their success.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are very helpful.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also interested in getting a co-writer (I need one, obviously), so if you are interested comment or talk to me on my Tumblr @disruptiveoddsbish


End file.
